County leaders: Sandoval plan would cost programs

Some local programs would be lost if the state follows through on funding reductions outlined in Gov. Brian Sandoval's budget plan, Clark County leaders said Tuesday.

The Westcare community triage center, Spring Mountain Youth Camp and other juvenile programs would be among the casualties, said county officials, likening state funding cuts to sawing off the leg of a stool.

The cuts would come at a time when the county is struggling with depleted resources to serve residents, County Manager Don Burnette said.

"These measures certainly don't make it any better," he said. "People should be really concerned."

The governor's proposal would cost the county roughly $50 million to $75 million a year because the state would take property tax revenue while shifting the costs of many programs onto the county, Burnette said.

This loss would be on top of the estimated $28 million the county is losing in tax revenue as a result of depreciating property values, he said.

"It's very unsettling to see how much they want to rely on the citizens of Clark County to fill the state's deficit," Commissioner Mary Beth Scow said.

Sandoval wants to continue taking 9 cents per $100 of assessed value from county property taxes, which the state began doing two years ago to help fill a prior budget shortfall. This time, however, the money would pay for local colleges.

Four cents would come from a tax share that funds general services, and 5 cents would be pulled from a tax share that pays for transportation projects.

That would add up to about $60 million a year, said Sabra Smith-Newby, county administrative services director.

State officials also want to transfer more program costs to the county, Smith-Newby said. For example, the county would pay $34 million more over two years for nursing home care for the severely disabled, Burnette estimates.

The state also seeks to use block grants to aid abused and neglected children, Smith-Newby said. The base funding would be reduced by 14 percent. Local governments would have to meet performance standards to get more money.

Another casualty could be the Westcare triage center, which yearly serves 4,000 patients with addiction and mental health problems. Local governments, hospitals and the state chip in to cover the clinic's costs, she said. If the state pulls its funding, the center probably will close and the patients will again strain hospital emergency rooms.

The Spring Mountain youth camp also won't survive if the state scraps its yearly $1.5 million funding, she said. About 230 kids go through the juvenile correctional facility a year.

And the state aims to scoop $32.5 million from an indigent fund over two years and cut the state's Medicaid funding by 5 percent, hurting the already struggling University Medical Center, Burnette said.

"The governor's proposed budget would have a devastating impact on our most vulnerable citizens," Commissioner Lawrence Weekly wrote in a statement.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.